Maintaining its average ACT college entrance exam score from 2006, St. Tammany Parish led the state for the second year in a row.

Averaging 21.6 points this and last year out of a possible 36, district high school seniors have also surpassed the state and national averages for the last five years. The state average this year was 20.1, and the national average was 21.2.

Schools Superintendent Gayle Sloan said the district's score is a reflection of the rigor of curriculum that is offered to its high school students. The exam tests everything that students have learned in their high school years, and is a tool used by colleges during the recruiting process.

"We're very pleased," she said, "This is a premier indicator of college readiness."

Within the district, Fontainebleau High School in Mandeville had the highest composite score, earning a 22.5. Mandeville and Northshore high schools had the second and third highest scores, with 22.4 and 22, respectively. Sloan said the district will analyze the data to find ways to maintain the schools' strong curriculum to better prepare high school students.

"Obviously we have hit the mark and we need to continue to attempt to do that because that's a really important part of making sure that our students are college ready," she said.
Introducing new district assessments next month to students in grades three through six, the School Board also hopes to monitor students' progress before they reach high school.

The assessments will test students on their math knowledge and will be held three times this year, starting during the first week in October.

Assistant Superintendent Cheryl Arabie said the 30-to 45-minute exam is based on the district's curriculum and tests students on material they learned in previous months. The test will better enable teachers to identify and help those students who may begin to fall behind, she said.

"It's a checkpoint; it's just a quick look," she said.

The assessments, which were developed over the summer with the help of exam consultants Research in Action, were born out of a recommendation the district received when it was awarded accreditation in 2005.

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools felt that the school system needed a strong internal assessment, and said that it should not rely solely on LEAP and iLEAP scores to determine the strength of its curriculum, Sloan said.

"So we are following up on that recommendation; this is our first step toward putting district assessments in play," she said.

The test, which will eventually include a language arts component, has no bearing upon students' grades, but will serve as another tool for teachers to use before students take the LEAP test in the spring.

"We don't want it to be looked at like the LEAP," Arabie said. "It's teacher-friendly, student-friendly."

(Kia Hall Hayes can be reached at (985) 645-2848 and khayes@timespicayune.com.)